NETHERLANDS: Supermarket chain to put more sugar information on labels

Published: 06/13/2018, 12:47:42 PM

Albert Heijn has announced that it is going to make it easier to eat less sugar by adding more information on its labels, according to the European Supermarkets Magazine.

The Dutch retailer has developed a new label for its 11,000 own brand SKUs, which offer more transparency about the product.

In addition to highlighting the total number of sugar and salt (per gram) that is in the product, the new labels will also indicate how much of a person's daily requirement it accounts for.

Albert Heijn has gradually removed a high percentage of sugar from its products in recent years, while at the same time testing whether or not its customers liked the products.

Through a new sugar points system, Albert Heijn measured the number of sugar cubes removed from its products, which currently stands at 300 million lumps. By 2020, it aims to have removed one billion.

"The Dutch consume too much sugar. This has to change in order to stop the explosive growth of the number of people with obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes," said Hanneke Dessing, director of the Diabetes Fund.

"Supermarkets and companies play an important role in this. Not only by putting less sugar in their products, but also by providing insight into sugar consumption as well as offering alternatives."

Albert Heijn added that it has been looking, in particular, at the sugar levels in soft drinks and pasta sauces. At the beginning of March, the Dutch retailer announced that it introduced a range of reduced sugar sauces that are made from 100% natural ingredients and free-range eggs.